Storage garage



' Nov. 25, 1930. L, D, COOK i,7s2,41o

' STORAGE GARAGE Filed Feb. 1, 192e 4 sheets-sheet 1 54 as f lH'llfrr'w@SWws'i'llml @f HV-f li *7045 V 22 M. '4 4, C 43 af i \\\\\\\\1}\\}\\\\\\\\\ 30 www im f i |"'40 32 iff l UIHIII) ylflfllllllymwHummm 7 773 r L. 0. 60o/r ATTORNEY i 7 5 mmm I 40 5 /0 y f Nov. z5, 1930. v L D, COOK 1,782,410

STORAGE GARAGE Filed Feb. l, 1928 {Sheets-Sheet 2 50 NVENTOR.

o L. 01 6'0 0A J ATTORNEY /0 NOV. 25, 1930. y 1 D, Cool( 1,782,410

STORAGE GARAGE' Filed Feb. 1, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I l il 1I 19.4. i: ,Z H

Ill 'lh 'lh Hlth@ l.' Q Iill 0 IU 5 u* HHM 9 as' INVENTOR L.0.6'00/f BY ATTORNEY Nov. z5, 1930. L, D, Colm 1,182,410

STORAGE GARAGE Filed Feb. l, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 JNVENTOR. D. 600A .BY

A T TURNEY Patented Nov. 25j, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE L. D. COOK, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI STQRAGE GARAGE Application led February 1, 1928. Serial No. 251,042.

My invention relates to storage garages Located in the front and rear walls 3 4,

' and particularly to that type of garages near each corner ofthe building and preferwherein motor vehicles are conducted to -difably adjacent the iooi 5, are recesses 8, each ferent elevations and disposed in storage containing a motor 9, and located in the floor spaces in individual. cages; the principal is a pit 10 containingr a motor 11; the moobjects of the invention being to facilitate tor 9 being adaptedfor operating the eledisposition ofthe cages in and return of vator mechanism hereinafter mentioned and the cages from the storage spaces, and to the motor 11 for shifting the elevator cages provide for such disposal of the cages as to laterally at the bottoni of the storage space.

secure a maximum storage capacity within A motor 12 is suspended from the roof 6 and t'J a given space. adapted for shifting the cages laterally at In accomplishing such objects of my inthel top of the space, all as previously devention I provide for elevation and return scribed. v of the individual vehicle cages in separate Supported in bearing sockets 13 on the 15 vertical tiers between which the cages may floor 5, adjacent each corner of the building '55 be shifted to eii'ect the maximum storao'e and and guided in bearing brackets 14 on the facilitate selection oit' the cages for delivery. front and rear walls 3-4 is ai vertical shaft In the accompanying drawings wherein 15 having a bevel` gear wheel 16 thereon, Ihave illustrated a preferred formof the inmeshing with a pinion 17 on the shaft 18 20 vention: of an adjacent motor 9, whereby the shafts 70 Fig- 1 is a, Vertical Section through a storf may be rotated in unison when the motors age garage and one tier of elevator cages on are 1n operation. the line 1-1, Fig. 3. 19 designates cages, each a duplicate of Fig. 2 is a vertical Section on the 1in@ 2 2,` another and of dimensions to receive a motor Fig 3, f vehicle when its open end is in registration 75 Fig 3 is a, Cross Section 0n the 1in@ 3 3, with the runway, and of a number to substan- Fig. 2, particularly illustrating the elevator tlally fill the Storage space in two vertical mechanigm tiers, except for the two idle spaces herein- Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view after mentioned. i 3o of a conveyor chain, illustrated in engage- EflCll @tige COInpIlSes a rectangularly 80 ment with a hook on the roof of an elevator Shaped box, open at one end, having a floor cage l 20, a roof 21, side walls 22, and a closed end Fig. 5 is'a fragmentary perspective view W2ll123.

f ofthe entrance and exitrunway illustrating Ill order to retain the tiers of cages in '35 its relation to a series of elevator gears and PFOPSI Vel'tlcal alignment, pairs of grooved 85 their mountings. guide members 211 are secured, as by bolts 25,

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective View 0f an in vertical position `to the side walls 22 of elevator cage. each cage, and adapted to receive the ianges Fig. 7 is a wiring diagram of the elevating 2G of fixed vertical guide rails 27 bolted to 4o 'and Conveyor motom inwardly projecting vertical flanges 28 in- 90 Referring more in detail to the drawings: tegral with the side walls 2 of the building, v1 designates the building constituting the and f01 II11I1g jvltll the building a supporting garage and including side walls 2, front and frame 1n which the cages operate. Guide rear walls 3-4, a iloor 5, here shown as 10- bars 29 of substantially half the thickness of cated below the ground level as when the the grooved guide members 24, and lixed Vto 95 building includes a basement, 6 a roof covthe cage walls parallel to said members and ering the spaceenclosed by said walls, and 7 in slightly spaced relation thereto, serve as a driveway opening to the interior of the, guides between the walls of adjoining cages; building through which vehicles may enter the grooved guide members and the guide l and leave the storage space. n bars being reversed in their respective posi- 10 tions on the opposite walls of each cage as illustrated in Fig. 3, so that the grooved guide member of one cage contacts the guide bar of an adjoining cage.

Means for e'ecting vertical movement of the cages includes worms 30 fixed at regular spaced intervals to the shafts adjacent the bearing sockets 13 and brackets 14 and adapted for cooperation with transverse gear units 31, each including a shaft 32 supported in bearings 33 on the inner faces of the end walls 3--4, and provided with a worin gear A 34 keyed to its end adjacent a side wall 2 of the building for engagement with a res ective worm on the vertical shaft 15. ear wheels 35 Xed at spaced intervals on the shafts 32 mesh with gear racks 36 secured to ends of the cages by lugs 37 attached to the sides of the cages by bolts 38. Rack sections 39 are fastened in like manner to the ends of the cage floors 2O for a purpose presently described.

In order to elevate an entire tier as a single unit, the cages are linked together by pairs of flanges 40 and 4l, bolted to the roof and floor respectively, of each cage, the interlocking of these flanges being accomplished by the lateral movement of a cage rom one tier to another, as will now be described.

Suspended from bearings 42 on each cage floor 2O near the ends of the iioor are pairs of rollers 43, the upper portions of which project into downwardly facing transverse grooves 44 in the floor; upwardly facing Atgrooves 45 in the cage roof 21 serving as guides and tracks for the rollers of superimposed cages. Grooves 46 in the Hoor 5 of the buildin serve the same purpose for cages reaching teir lower limit of travel. By means of these rollers and tracks the power required for effecting horizontal movement of the cages is reduced to a minimum and is supplied by the conveyor motors 11 and 12 secured to the roof and Hoor respectively, as described, approximately at the transverse center of the tiers of cages. The shafts 47 of the motors 11-12 are provided with sprocket wheels 48-49 cooperating with idler sprocket wheels 50-51 at the bottom and top of the storage space to support and drive the endless chain belts 52-53; the idler sprocket wheel 51 forthe motor 12 being suspended 'from the. roof 6 by a hanger bearing 54 and the sprocket wheel 50 for the motor 11 being mounted on a standard 55 on the floor 5 of the building.I

Hooks 56 on the endless chains 52-53 are adapted to engage complementary hooks 57 attached to the roof and floor of each cage, as illustrated in Fig. 4, each hook 57 comprising a shank` 58 extended through a slot 59 in a cover plate 60V attached to the roof of the cage, and a guide portion 61 secured to the shank 58 slidable in a groove 62 below the cover plate and engaged by an expansion cushioning spring 63. The hooks 57 are secured to the roofs and floors of the cages approximately midway between the side walls but are slightly offset in opposite directions from a central transverse line to prevent interference of adjacent hooks when a cage is shifted from one tier to another.

When a cage has reached the vertical limit of its travel the elevator motors are stopped and the conveyor motors started in a manner presently described.

-A hook 56 in its travel with an endless chain driven by one of the conveyor motors engages a. hook 57 and shifts a cage from one tier to another. Simultaneously with this movement the {iange 40 of one cage is moved out of engagement with the flange 41 of an adjoining cage and into engagement with the flange 41 of a parallel cage in the opposite tier. At the same time the rack section 39 engaging a series of elevating gears 35, slides along the same, effecting an additional support and guide for the cage during its horizontal travel.

Means for controlling the elevating and conveyor motors includes a primary control mechanism in an upper corner of the garage, comprising a support 64 secured to the roof 6, to which is pivotally attached an arm 65, the longer portion thereof being adapted to close a circuit with either of contact members 66 or 67 fixed to the front wall 3. A spring 68 fastened to the arm and to the roof 6, normally closes the circuit through the contact 69 on the arm 65 and the upper con tact member 66. Mounted on the end of the shorter portion of the contact arm and transversely thereto is a roller 70. During the horizontal travel of the upper cage, roller 70 contacts the roof of the cage, a projection 71 secured to the side wall and in alignment with the roof of the cage serving to bridge the space between the tiers.

A two-way switch 72 having contact points 73 and 74 and located near the entrance in the front wall of the garage affords means for controlling each set of motors.

An extension plate 75 fixed to the runw-ay Hoor by bolts 76 covers the local gear unit 31, providing a smooth surface from the runway onto a ca e floor.

Assuming t e parts to be constructed and assembled as described, operation would be as follows:

The floor of a cage being on a level with the runway floor, a car isdriven through the entrance into the cage, as illustrated in Fig. 1. When the switch is moved to the contact point 73, the circuit is closed through the elevating motors and the tier including the cage in which the car has been driven is lowered while the opposite tier is being elevated. Upon reaching their respective limits of vertical travel, the upper cage of one f l ported in lne garage,

tier engages the roller on the Contact arm breaking the circuit through the elevating motors, simultaneousl bringing the contact 69 on the arm 65 tofet er with the lower contact member 67. oving the switch to the contact point 74 then closes the circuit through the conveyor motors 'and the respective upper and lower cages begin to move longitudinally in opposite direction. When their horizontal limit ot travel has been reached, the roller no longer engages the roof of the cage and automatically breaks the circuit through the conveying motors. The runway 7 being ot' a Width equal to the interior width of the garage, permits entrance of a car into or delivery from either of two cages on a level with the runway fiooi, thereby avoiding the necessity for a complete cycle of operation when the car to be delivered is in a cage at the bottom ofthe garage.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a storage garage, supports for vehicles, linkage means on the supports for connecting the supports in tiers, means for mov-l ing the supports vertically in tiers including means adapted to support the supports during horizontal movement, means for effecting horizontal movement ot' the supports, and means for controlling said movements.

2. In a storage garage, vehicle supports inclu-ding floors, roofs and walls, means f'or connecting the floor of one support with the roof of an adjoining support, means for moving the supports vertically in tiers, means for effecting horizontal movement of the -supports including rollers mounted in the floor of a support, guides on the roof of a support for receiving said rollers of a superimposed cage, and means for controlling said movements.

3. In a storage garage, supports for vehicles, means for moving the supports vertically in adjoining tiers, means including co1 guide members on the supports operating for retaining the supports 1n vertical alignment, said guide members cooperating with guides in adjacent tiersmeans for simultaneously moving the supports in the respective tiers in opposite directions, conveying mechanism for simultaneously moving said supports horizontally from tier to tier in opposite directions, and means for controlling said Vertical and horizontal movements. v 4. In a storage garage, supports for Vehicles, linkage means on connecting the supports in tiers, motors supvertical shafts; positioned adjacent the motors, said motors havingk driving connection With the vertical shafts, horizontal shafts mountedtransversely to the vertical shafts, means for driving the horizontal shafts with said vertical shafts, gear racks on the ends of the supports, gear wheels on the horizontal shafts meshing the supports for with said racks, means for effecting horizontal movement of the supports, and means. for controlling said movements.

5. In a storage garage, vehicle supports including floors, roofs and walls, means for lconnecting the floor of one support with the roof of an adjoining support, means for moving the supports vertically in tiers, means for retaining the tiers in vertical alignment, including guide rails in the garage, grooved guide members fixed to the side walls of the supportsv` and adapted to slide on said rails, guide bars fixed parallel-to said guide members. the guide members and guide bars-being reversed in their respective positions on the opposite Walls of a support for sliding contact of guide members on one support with the guide bars of an adjoining support, means for effecting horizontal movement of the supports, and means for movements.

6. In a storage garage, supports for vehicles, linkage means on the supports for connecting the supports in tiers, means for nioing the supports vertically in tiers, means for effecting horizontal movement of the supports. and means for controlling said movements including a circuit making and breaking device, comprising a cont-act arm pivotally mounted between two contact points and adapted for controlling the limit of travel of both the elevatingand conveying mechanisms in conjunction with a manually operated two-way switch. i'

7. A storage garage includinga frame, vactuating means including a horizontal shaft having gears, a plurality of cages in the 4frame arranged in vertical tiers, and means including rack sections on the cages engageable by said gears for supporting the cages while moving from one tier to another.

8. A storage garage including a frame, and actuating means including a horizontal shaft having gears at opposite ends and means for moving a cage horizontally, a. cage in said frame having vertical rack sections, said end gears being engageable with said rack sections for moving the cage vertically, a horizontal rack section on the cage, and intermediate racks on said shaft adapted to engage said horizontal rack sections for slidably support-- ing the cage during horizontal movement. l

9. A storage garage including a frame, cages mounted on adjacent tiers in the frame with sides of cages in contacting rela-tion, means for moving the cages vertically in the frame, and means for moving cages from one tier to another.

In testimony whereof I aHiX my signature.

L. D. 000K.

controlling said i 

